GISD approves bus camera expense

By JANELLE STECKLEIN
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE — The bus ride to school may have just gotten a little bit safer for Greenville students.

The Greenville Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 6-0 recently to spend $92,310 during the next three years to equip all of the district’s buses with what appears to be state-of-the-art video equipment.

The equipment has GPS tracking capabilities, night vision and wireless access which will allow district administrators immediate access when needed, according to a presentation to the Board. The video camera hard drives usually hold about 2-1/2 to 3 weeks worth of video and district officials will have the ability to save chosen portions for later usage. According to a document released by the district, the cameras will be installed on 36 buses.

Bruce Shores, assistant superintendent for administration and operations, said the new cameras are needed because the current bus cameras are not operational.

“This is an opportunity to update this,” he said.

He told the Board members that the administration wants the cameras to improve discipline and increase safety for bus riders. The cameras will be monitored by GISD Transportation Director Walter Wilson and the district’s mechanics, Shores said.

“Nobody can get away with anything anymore (when riding the bus),” said a representative with AdComp Systems Inc., the company that will be supplying the cameras.

Board member Kim Hunt Butcher questioned AdComp representatives carefully about additional expenses and the life expectancy of the cameras.

AdComp representatives said that each camera has at least a three-year life expectancy. They also said that GISD personnel will be taught how to install the cameras so that there are not additional labor costs.

Another advantage of the cameras that district officials touted is that the company will be able to tell the district the moment a camera stops functioning with a program known as the Heartbeat Monitoring System.

“(It) allows the company to monitor and diagnosis it’s equipment from it’s Carrollton location eliminating the worry of non-functioning equipment,” district officials wrote in a document outlining the purchase.

Another benefit of the cameras is that under normal use they are pretty much vandal-proof, a company representative said, saying the district’s bus drivers will also not be able to access or alter the system.

In the future if the district wishes it, the cameras could be equipped to let a bus driver know that a student has gotten on the wrong the school bus, representative said.

GISD Superintendent Lloyd Graham recommended the purchase.

“I think security is an issue,” he said.